Page 6 of Ma Belle Marguerite (Hidden Secrets #1)

Isabella

I throw myself down on my freshly made bed, sighing. This past week has been crazy between getting the twins registered in school and getting ready for my new job.

We are almost unpacked at our new place.

My dad had found this house a few years ago and bought it in hopes I would move home.

He hated that he never got to see his grandkids.

Or so he’d say. So when this house went up for sale as a repo, he swooped in and got it cheap using ‘his connections’ as he calls them.

I’m very grateful that he did, no matter what his true intentions were at the time. I’m sure he will try and rope me into helping with his accounting business. The less than legal one. Unfortunately for him, I have no interest in that.

Tonight is my first shift at the hospital.

Thankfully, I’ll be working with someone to show me how they do things here, so I won’t be alone.

I have done this job before, but I can already feel my body tensing as I think about walking through the doors.

My hands are shaky as I reach for my phone to text Giselle and make sure she is still coming to spend the night with the twins.

My peace is short-lived. The twins come barreling into the room, screaming, as if I had summoned them with my thoughts. I prepare myself for the inevitable crash of them jumping on my bed. They’ve grown up so much in the last six months, but some things never change.

Remi tackles Brielle onto the bed, grabbing at whatever she has clutched to her chest, and I sit up so I can see what is going on. “Come on, guys, that's enough. Matante Giselle will be here soon to stay the night with you, and you need to be on your best behavior.”

This bit of information gets their attention.

It’s been two years since they’ve seen Giselle, and they both have missed her.

She is the aunt that will get right in on all the wrestling and shenanigans that Remi loves to do, but will do Brielle’s hair and makeup with her, too.

She always seems to know what they need from her. She is basically a second Mom.

Remi uses this distraction to grab what appears to be his phone from his sister and runs from the room while yelling, “Tell Matante I’ll be face-timing the guys in my room!” He has spent every night talking to his friends from Victoria.

Brielle squeals, jumps up, and leaves the room, mumbling something about finding her hair and makeup stuff.

Since we moved, she has missed having someone to hang out with.

Video chatting and doing makeup isn’t the same as having someone with you; I’ve just been too busy.

My mother isn’t exactly the girly type so she doesn’t spend much time with Brielle.

About an hour later, Giselle arrives with bags in her arms and yells, “The queen has arrived!”

Before I can get to her to help with all the bags, Brielle has already grabbed her arm, pulling her towards her bedroom.

“Have a good first shift, babe,” I hear Giselle say as she struggles to keep up with Brielle.

I giggle to myself as I grab my keys and bag from the table by the door.

“Bye, guys. Love you. Be good for Matante!” I yell as I walk out the door in a hurry–I don’t want to be late on my first day.

Thankfully, the hospital is only a ten minute drive away.

The joys of living in a small town: everything is close.

It’s a beautiful spring evening as I drive down the back roads with my windows open, enjoying nature's music. I can hear the frogs croaking as they go through their spring thaw. I missed this quiet life living in the city. I didn’t realize just how much until now.

I pull into the staff parking lot and take a deep breath.

I can do this! I tell myself, I haven’t stepped foot in a hospital since that fateful night.

There are signs of winter lingering. I can see snow along the tree line at the edge of the parking lot, causing involuntary shivers to run down my spine.

Grabbing my bag, I get out of my SUV and lock the doors. Here we go. Each footstep feels heavier than the last. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time.

I slowly make my way in and head towards the office to ensure all the paperwork I faxed last week is complete.

As I walk through the halls, it all looks the same as I remember from my childhood, besides the normal wear and tear.

The walls are still white, but they are now more of an off white with age.

The same light blue tile floors now look worn and in need of some care after years of patients wandering the halls.

As I approach my new boss's office, the door opens and startles me from my thoughts. “Oh there you are, Isabella. I was hoping to run into you before you started. Here is your name tag.” My new boss is way too cheerful for someone who works here. “Your parents sure are excited you are back home!”

Another joy of living in a small town is that everyone knows everyone.

“Hi, Paul. I figured I would come to make sure everything is good to go before I start,” I say as I shake his hand and take my name tag.

“Yes, Mom and Dad are happy. They’ve already spent more time at my new house than they have at home.

” I smile, thinking of how delighted the twins have been having my parents around.

I missed having them around, but I won’t ever tell my father that.

He’ll just go off on his usual rant that I never should have left in the first place.

“Everything is good. I just wanted to say hello and introduce you to the person you will be shadowing.” He locks his door and leads me back down the hall toward the emergency department.

When we arrive, it’s quiet. Too quiet. Back in Victoria, it was always loud and busy. I notice a mom with her baby in the corner and an elderly couple sitting by the doors.

The little waiting room has a vending machine and bathroom close to what I assume will be my computer.

I could get used to this change of pace.

Everything here is a smaller version of my last job, and hopefully that means things will be less stressful so I can ease back into it.

I love my job, but I’m not sure I could mentally handle the huge rushes we had in Victoria just yet.

“Your computer is over here. I believe it is the same operating system you had. So it shouldn’t be too hard to get into the swing of things.

” Paul is rambling and not even paying attention to whether I’m following him.I drop my bag at my seat and rush to catch up to Paul.

Falling into step next to him, I hear the nurse telling him the girl I was supposed to shadow called in sick.

Paul turns around and groans. “Well, I guess you’re being tossed into the deep end.

If you have any questions, I’m sure any of the nurses can help you.

I’d stay, but my wife is waiting for me at home. ”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure I’ll be fine,” I reassure him, but he is already walking away and waving goodbye to everyone. Well, I guess he isn’t that worried.

“Have a good first night! Come see me before your shift tomorrow, and let me know how tonight goes.” He rushes out the door before I can answer him.

“Welcome to the shit show,” the nurse Paul had been talking to says as she turns and heads back to her triage patients. If Paul’s lack of interest in a new hire, regardless of how familiar he is with them, is any indication? This will surely be a ‘shit show.

After a few hours into my shift, I have managed to look over the computer system and register the few patients that have come in. Nothing too crazy. It’s almost relaxing compared to my last job. I decide to call Giselle and see how things are going at home.

Giselle doesn’t answer but sends a text saying she can’t talk because it’s been deemed a movie night with no electronics. Giggling to myself, I put my phone away so I don’t get her in trouble with Brielle. She’s very adamant about no phones during movie nights.

I decide to walk around a bit so I don’t fall asleep. It has been a very quiet evening, and I can feel myself nodding off just sitting at the computer. As I near the doors, I hear the sound of tires screeching outside.

I look out the window to see a lifted Ford F-250 parked on the curb, blocking the entrance. A tall man runs around from the driver's side as another man jumps out of the passenger side. They rush to open the back door and pull an unconscious man out of the back seat.

The man they are carrying almost looks dead, the way his arms and legs are hanging.

My view of the man's face is blocked by the two who are carrying him.

Seeing the way he is draped over their arms brings back flashes of Adrien lying on the stretcher as they wheeled him in.

My body refuses to move. This is too much.

It was supposed to be a quiet, calm pace.

The sound of the automatic doors sliding open jolts me from the memory, and I rush back to my computer as the nurse brings a stretcher to them. I need to be ready for whatever is coming through those doors. I can’t decide if I should sit in my chair or stand here and wait.

As the men lower the unconscious man to the stretcher, I struggle to concentrate. My mind is reeling, and I feel like I can’t breathe. Flashbacks are trying to overwhelm me. This is not Adrien. You can do this! I tell myself.

Looking up, I see the nurse wave me over to where they are huddled around the stretcher. She is putting a blood pressure cuff on his arm as I approach.

“I need you to get him registered while I bring him straight to the back.” She keeps checking the man over while talking to me. Almost as if I wasn’t actually here.

The men who carried him in must be over 6 feet tall and built like a couple of linebackers. The one who was driving looks at me, and I notice his brows furrow quickly before he looks away, but not before I notice that he has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen.